Social reinforcement as a determinant of performance, performance expectancy, and attributions

The effects of positive, negative, and nonreinforcement were examined during performance of a fine motor task to observe any expectancy and performance differences. Female high school subjects first learned the task and then were given a series of 30 trials in which social reinforcement was administered noncontingently. Positive social reinforcement had a significant effect on performance, while both positive and negative reinforcement had significant effects on expectancy. In addition, disparate attributions were made by each treatment group.     

Nocturnal emissions: a failure to replicate

A time series of nocturnal emissions was presented in The American Journal of Psychology in 1904. The anonymous author of this remarkable article provided the time series to support his contention that his nocturnal emissions exhibited a seasonal pattern of variation. Specifically, he claimed to have heightened emissions during spring and summer, with dampened emissions later. The basis for this claim was a time series graph of average emissions by month across an 8-year period. The purpose of this article is to reanalyze these data with statistical procedures developed in the past century to validate the original conclusion drawn by the author. After analyses of the data with several state-of-the-art methods, no statistical support was found for a seasonal pattern of nocturnal emissions.     

Prior task failure as a determinant of biofeedback and cognitive task performance

In a study of the effects of controllability of outcomes upon behavior in a biofeedback context, 40 college students were assigned to four groups differing in pretreatment: (1) a success-failure group, given false feedback in a fictitious blood-vessel control task for two sessions designed to convey success followed by two sessions of failure feedback; (2) a failure-failure group, given false failure feedback throughout pretreatment; (3) a contingent failure group, receiving actual feedback in a temperature biofeedback task with criteria that assured failure throughout pretreatment; and (4) a control group, given no specific task during this phase. In a subsequent phase, all subjects received actual frontal (forehead) electromyographic (EMG) response training with biofeedback. In analyses of the results, during EMG training, the contingent failure group attained lower levels than the other three groups. By contrast, on a cognitive (anagram) task, interpolated between pretreatment and EMG training, the contingent failure group demonstrated relatively poorer performance than the other groups. The results are discussed in terms of reactance and learned helplessness theories of perceived loss of control in this context.Some of the data reported here were included in a thesis submitted by the second author in partial fulfillment of requirements for the master's degree in psychology, University of Hawaii, 1981. The entire paper was the basis for a presentation at the annual meeting of the Biofeedback Society of America, Albuquerque, 1984.     

Dietary factors and hyperactivity: a failure to replicate

Recent research suggests that sucrose consumption may be a factor in children's hyperactivity. Yet, the manner in which hyperactive behavior was assessed confounded hyperactivity and aggression, thereby reducing the conceptual validity of the findings. In addition, accepting a probability level of 0.06 as significant with 36 correlations, and using grams rather than portions as an index of food consumption might have contributed to a Type I error. When these three issues were addressed in the present study, no significant relationships emerged between sucrose consumption and hyperactivity or aggression assessed as separate dimensions. The age of the hyperactive children in this sample (M = 9.15 years) contrasted with that of the original research (M = 6 years 2 months) and this may contribute to the differential results. Suggestions for further research are outlined, and the need to separate hyperactive children according to whether they receive stimulant medication or not, and assess attention deficit disorders in addition to behavioral components of hyperactivity are stressed.     

Biased attention retraining in dysphoria: a failure to replicate

The present study replicated Wells and Beevers [(2010). Biased attention and dysphoria: Manipulating selective attention reduces subsequent depressive symptoms. Cognition &; Emotion, 24, 719–728] and examined the longitudinal effects of attentional retraining on symptoms of depression. Dysphoric undergraduate psychology students were randomly assigned into either a neutral or control training condition. Training was administered using a dot-probe task that presented participants with pairs of pictures (of sad and neutral content) that were followed by a probe that participants had to respond to. Training took place over four sessions during a two-week period, followed by a final follow-up session two weeks later. Mood was measured at baseline, post-training, and at follow-up. All participants showed a significant reduction in depressive symptoms throughout the study, F(1.7, 73.55)?=?21.19, p?Cognition &; Emotion, 24, 719–728]. Implications of the findings on research on attentional retraining in the context of depression are discussed.     

Object-based selection under focused attention: a failure to replicate

In a recent study, Lavie and Driver (1996) reported that object-based effects found with distributed attention disappear when attention is focused on a narrow area of the display. This finding stands in contrast with previous reports of object-based effects under conditions of focused attention (e.g., Atchley & Kramer, 1998; Egly, Driver, & Rafal, 1994). The present study was an attempt to replicate Lavie and Driver's finding, using similar task and stimuli. While Lavie and Driver's object-based effect in the distributed attention condition was replicated, its absence in the focused attention condition was not. In the two experiments reported in this paper, object-based effects were found under conditions of both distributed and focused attention, with no difference in the magnitude of the object-based effects in the two conditions. It is concluded that, in contrast with Lavie and Driver's claim, the initial spatial setting of attention does not influence object-based constraints on the distribution of attention.     

Inhibitory tagging in visual search: a failure to replicate

Klein (1988) reported that increased reaction times for the detection of small light probes could be used as an indicator of inhibitory tagging of rejected distractors in serial visual search tasks. Such a paradigm would be very useful in the study of the mechanics of visual search. Unfortunately, we cannot replicate the result. In this study, we found that probe reaction times were elevated at all distractor locations, relative to empty locations, following both parallel and serial search tasks. This appears to be a forward masking effect.     

Movement and focused attention: a failure to replicate.

Our original goal was to explore the nature of the grouping-by-movement phenomenon reported by Driver and Baylis (1989). In their studies, distractors that moved in common with a centrally located target had a larger influence on focused-attention performance than did more proximate but stationary distractors. These results seemed particularly important since they suggested, contrary to the predictions of space-based models of attention, that attention could be allocated to noncontiguous regions of the visual field. Their results also suggested mandatory processing of stimuli with common motion. Unfortunately, we were unable to replicate this grouping-by-movement effect. In the conditions of Experiment 1 in which we replicated Driver and Baylis's methodology, stationary distractors produced a larger response-compatibility effect than did the more distant distractors that moved in common with the target. In Experiment 2, we redundantly coded the centrally located target and the far distractors with common movement and color. However, the results were identical to those obtained in Experiment 1. The stationary near distractors that appeared in a different color from the target and the far distractors produced the largest response-compatibility effect. In a final experiment, we attempted to compensate for the reduced acuity of the moving distractors by adjusting their size by a cortical magnification factor. However, even with this manipulation, we found a larger response-compatibility effect for the stationary near distractors than for the moving distant distractors. Our results suggest that subjects are capable of selectively processing a target item that moves in common with distractors.     

Lunar effects on personality test scores: a failure to replicate

A total of 881 Ss completed EPQ and 16PF questionnaires at different dates spanning 2 years. Multivariate analyses of variance of the scores as a function of the phase of the moon at the time of testing revealed no significant effect of moon phase on EPQ scores. Although a significant effect on 16PF scores was found, it was small, confined to three factors and bore little resemblance to the findings of a previously reported study.     

Movement and focused attention: A failure to replicate

Our original goal was to explore the nature of the grouping-by-movement phenomenon reported by Driver and Baylis (1989). In their studies, distractors that moved in common with a centrally located target had a larger influence on focused-attention performance than did more proximate but stationary distractors. These results seemed particularly important since they suggested, contrary to the predictions of space-based models of attention, that attention could be allocated to noncontiguous regions of the visual field. Their results also suggested mandatory processing of stimuli with common motion. Unfortunately, we were unable to replicate this grouping-by-movement effect. In the conditions of Experiment 1 in which we replicated Driver and Baylis’s methodology, stationary distractors produced a larger response-compatibility effect than did the more distant distractors that moved in common with the target. In Experiment 2, we redundantly coded the centrally located target and the far distractors with common movement and color. However, the results were identical to those obtained in Experiment J. The stationary near distractors that appeared in a different color from the target and the far distractors produced the largest response-compatibility effect. In a final experiment, we attempted to compensate for the reduced acuity of the moving distractors by adjusting their size by a cortical magnification factor. However, even with this manipulation, we found a larger response-compatibility effect for the stationary near distractors than for the moving distant distractors. Our results suggest that subjects are capable of selectively processing a target item that moves in common with distractors.     

Regulatory fit as a determinant of sport performance: How to succeed in a soccer penalty-shooting

ObjectivesAccording to regulatory focus theory, goal pursuit can be achieved by either keeping a promotion or a prevention focus [Higgins, E. T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist, 52, 1280–1300; Higgins, E. T. (2000). Making a good decision: value from fit. American Psychologist, 55, 1217–1230]. Moreover, it has been assumed that people experience fit when they pursue a goal in a manner that sustains their chronic orientation and that fit has a positive impact on performance. In two studies, we investigated the significance of regulatory focus and fit in the realm of sports performance, such as the success rate in a soccer penalty-shooting task.Methods and ResultsIn a pilot study, we assessed the chronic regulatory orientation of 211 athletes from different sports. Among others, we found more promotion focus with attackers than with defenders. In the main study, we assessed the chronic regulatory orientation of 20 soccer players who took part in a penalty-shooting task. For half of them, the task was described in terms of promotion, for the others in terms of prevention. We found a positive impact of regulatory fit on scoring performance.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate a great potential of regulatory focus theory for the understanding and enhancement of sport performance. The assessment of athletes' chronic regulatory orientation could be of importance for the selection of athletes, the adjustment of tactics and strategies, and coaches' framing of instructions.